


glory & gore

by skeletonwrites



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Smut, Undercover Missions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-28 12:00:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 15,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20778221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skeletonwrites/pseuds/skeletonwrites
Summary: Undercover Aelin is investigating Rowan and the Cadre. yeet.





	1. whiskey and a cuban.

It was the first cover she’d ever had where the uniform required fishnet tights emblazoned with rhinestones. Her legs sparkled with each step, much like the cups of the bustier that were covered in crystals. The boning of the corset was defined by crystals running down the bodice, and her hips were defined by ruffles with the bustle being extra frilly. She very much looked the part, she fit right in in the burlesque club one of the most powerful mob bosses in Erilea owned.

“Stay away from that one,” one of the girls said in her ear, nodding out at the man that was coincidentally her target. “He’s the _owner_, but he’s…staying away would be best.” Aelin, newly proclaimed Celaena Sardothien for the sake of this mission, cocked a brow. Photos of the man that sat in the high-backed and winged chair didn’t quite do him justice. He was huge, six feet four inches if she recalled correctly, with silver hair and green eyes. Despite the constant brooding that he’d shown from the moment she had began her first night of work, he was handsome. Breathtakingly, so, and if he happened to smile, she thought that he would be able to get anything he wanted. Not that he needed to smile to do it. Rowan Whitethorn was known for taking what he wanted, when he wanted it. But so was Aelin Galathynius, a ruthless and cunning detective with the Rifthold Police Department. She’d been an academy darling, top of her class and her father before her was a complete and total legend.

Aelin slipped from behind a curtain, making her way to the bar. She leaned against the counter, chin in her hand and nodded toward Rowan.

“What’s he having?”

“The boss? Whiskey on the rocks and a Cuban usually,” the bartender, a handsome young man named Sam, said to her. Aelin snagged a tray from behind the counter and tapped the center of it.

“Get that ready for me?” She flashed him a grin, fluttered her lashes and shimmied her shoulders slightly, and the man nodded, getting everything ready for Rowan Whitethorn exactly how he liked it. The bass of the music rattled her bones, made her heart thunder in her chest as the dancers popped and spun on the stage in glorified lingerie.

“Be careful,” Sam said, pushing the tray toward her. Gods, she was getting tired of people saying that, but she nodded in false thanks anyway, knowing that any other girl he said it to would heed his warning. But not her. Not Aelin. Instead, she carried the tray over, weaving through the bodies and chairs that others were sat in. It was a full house tonight. Her corset glimmered in the _low _light, her legs sparkled as she moved through the room, only to perch herself on the rolled arm of the chair. Rowan looked up at her beneath thick lashes as she crossed her legs and lowered the tray, allowing him to take the cigar and glass of whiskey off.

He took a sip before he set it down on the mahogany table to his right, Aelin perched to his left. She watched wordlessly as he opened the small wooden box and removed the cigar, made eye contact as he snipped the end. She realized that the cigar cutter could cut much more than that as his tongue swirled over the end of his cigar. It could snap her finger clean off, she was sure. It was like a little finger guillotine and she was almost positive it had been used as such.

“I’ve never seen you before,” he said as she struck a match and held it to the end of his cigar, watching the end began to burn. She held the match to her lips and blew it out then tossed the burnt and smoking match onto the side table.

“You wouldn’t have, I’m new.”

“What’s your name?” He asked, shifting where he sat, having to look up at her slightly. Up close he was even more handsome than he was from far away. It was almost hard to hear him over the sound of the music that the live band orchestrated behind her, so when she spoke, she rose her voice.

“Celaena. What’s yours?” She stretched out her legs, the gems twinkling as she readjusted herself. She slipped off the arm of the chair to straddle him, tilting her head so her hair fell over one shoulder. A risky move, considering he could kill her for touching him without him wanting her to, but he merely too a slow drag from his cigar, turning over the flavors in his mouth. The smoke he breathed out settled around them, mixing with smoke and fog from machines and patrons alike.

“You shouldn’t be working here if you don’t know the answer to that, sweetheart.” His accent was thick, lilting and beautiful, the _low _timbre of his voice striking something _inside _her that it very well shouldn’t. He was her target, her mission. He shouldn’t be getting any reaction out of her body at all.

Aelin, always bold, took the cigar from his fingers and sucked the tobacco smoke into her mouth, a suicide mission really – getting between a mob boss and his cigars. Rowan’s brows rose, she had managed to surprise him. Aelin was willing to bet that no other girls in this burlesque club did much more than bring him a drink, his cigar, and walk away and leave him to his own devices. Had this been her real job, maybe she would have. But this wasn’t her real job. She had a mission to complete, a cover to hold. And she wanted to know more about the infamous Rowan Whitethorn.

“I can learn.”


	2. take me home, love.

Every night was the same that Aelin worked. She sat on his lap and appeased him, danced a little for him, smoked his cigars and brought him his whiskey. Anything she could do to slowly coil him around her finger until she could get him where she wanted him, until she could be on his home court, in his home, skimming for evidence and information without him realizing it. It had been weeks, and everybody knew, without Rowan having to ask, that he wanted Aelin to tend to him. He’d never verbally asked for her, but he didn’t have to. The attraction he felt toward her was magnetic, one that everyone could see in the way he rest his hand on her thigh, on her waist. He found her to be endlessly fascinating. Rowan had always known everything about everyone in the club – the patrons, the dancers, the waitresses and bartenders. But this new girl, he knew nothing about, and she was the only one with the audacity to walk in and drop onto his lap, to run her fingers through his hair, to whisper into his ear and puff on his cigars. None of the other girls ever talked to him, much less touched him, relaxed around him. When he perched the others on his lap they were stiff, they didn’t move. This one, though, she danced in place, she laughed. She leaned into his touch and didn’t instinctively pull away from him when he leaned to whisper something in her ear, when his fingers skimmed her throat.

Rowan’s fingers brushed her hair from her neck, eyes focusing on the vein that pulsed in her neck. Tonight, she wore a black piece that essentially looked like lace had been painted on her body. If he hadn’t been able to feel the texture of the lace, the appliqués, he would have thought it had been painted on her, and damn him if she wasn’t the most exquisite thing he’d ever seen. Currently, his cigar was fit between her lips as she sucked in some of the smoke. Even more interesting that she knew how to properly enjoy a cigar.

“No one would question it,” he said, nose skimming along her lifeblood, “if I slit your throat right now. Yet still you sit. Why?” His fingers brushed along her collarbone, his thumb over her neck.

“I have nothing to live for. So why not?” Rowan plucked the cigar from her fingers and breathed in slowly, eyes roving her body as he exhaled. Smoke floated up through the air, spiraling and cascading up like a waterfall running backwards. Aelin locked eyes with him as he let out a hum of a response, shifting his eyes back to the stage as a new number started. “I’m sure I could find someone else’s lap to sit pretty on,” Aelin said. When he didn’t say anything she shifted in his lap, reaching for his whiskey, which she took a drink of before setting it back down. “You seem to like me, in general, on your lap. Or am I wrong?” Her head tilted, hair cascading around them like a curtain. Rowan’s fingers fingers one of her teased up golden curls, his eyes shifting to hers. “I could send for someone else if you’d like. Then we can see how unfulfilled you are by the end of the night.” Aelin’s breath tickled his ear, her lips dangerously close to his skin.

“All you do is sit and talk, mooch off my smoke and my whiskey, so unless you plan to warm my bed, I suggest you stop taunting me or go find a lovelier dancer,” his voice, the _low _timbre vibrating in her bones, sending a thrill down her spine. A thrill that she shouldn’t have. He was her job, her mission. And yet –

“If there were someone lovelier, she’d already be here, but you don’t pick me just because I’m pretty, do you Mr. Whitethorn? And who says I don’t intend on warming your bed?” Rowan’s lips twitched at the corners, eyes moving to the stage. The girl in the center was currently dancing to “Diamond’s Are a Girl’s Bestfriend” in a corset completely covered in Swarovski crystals, fanning herself with a fan of feathers, her lashes thick and long.

“Who said I picked you? I didn’t specifically ask for you, Miss Sardothien. And if you’re going to warm my bed, perhaps you should just do it, and stop planning on it.” Aelin leaned forward, pressing her lips to his neck just below his ear, leaving the picture perfect red lip print just above his collar. Her nose grazed against his neck, lips stopping at his ear.

“Would you like for me to get someone else for you? Or would you like to take me home?” Rowan downed the rest of his drink, then tilted his head to look at her. Their lips were close enough to almost touch, her mouth just hovering above his.

“I’d like for you to get me another drink, love,” he murmured, and Aelin’s lips twitched. She turned on his lap and pranced through the crowd to the bar, rocking up on her toes in her heeled feet to lean over the counter, presenting Sam with Rowan’s order. From where Rowan sat, her ass was on perfect display, and he felt a twinge of annoyance at the way that she threw her head back in laughter at whatever the barkeep said to her. Once he set the drink down on the counter they high-fived, and it bothered Rowan. Bothered him almost as much as her stopping by Fenrys’s table on her way back to Rowan, snagging a cherry from Fen’s drink. Aelin was grinning as she swirled the cherry in Rowan’s whiskey, but her smile completely vanished when she sat back down in Rowan’s lap and offered him the glass tumbler, but not before she plucked the cherry from his drink and popped it in her mouth, stem and all. Her eyes closed as she savored the flavor, then moments later popped the stem out of her mouth, tied in a little knot by her tongue and teeth alone. He sipped the whiskey, his eyes not leaving hers as he set the glass on the table.

“Take me home, love,” she whispered, heart thundering in her chest as he rose to his feet, inclining his head toward the exit for her to follow. This wasn’t at all part of her job, her mission. But she would figure out how to the make the excuse for it to have been necessary.Hello! I hope you enjoy this Rowaelin AU. If you like what I do, please support me by buying me a ko-fi at the link below. times are hard and this makes it easier to keep up with life.  
xo  
https://ko-fi.com/O4O3SCGW

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this Rowaelin AU. If you like what I do, please support me by buying me a ko-fi at the link below. times are hard and this makes it easier to keep up with life.  
xo  
https://ko-fi.com/O4O3SCGW


	3. brave or stupid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SMUT.

Aelin’s heart was thundering in her chest as she fiddled absently with her earring, wondering if she should follow. The earring came loose and as she stood and made her way toward the door after Rowan, she lay it down on the stage. It wasn’t a_ normal _earring. It was a mic that enabled her team to be able to record all interaction she had with Rowan Whitethorn and his associates. But where she was going, she didn’t want them to be able to hear.**  
**

  
The exit that he nodded toward for her to follow him through wasn’t an exit at all. There was a thumb pad next to the handle, which Rowan placed his thumb on and the door unlocked moments later. He led her down a long, dim hallway, passed doors that undoubtedly held evidence that she needed, but her mind wasn’t on what she needed for her case. It was only focused on what she wanted. 

She followed him into a room that had a leather couch against one wall, a desk with two chairs in front of it. It didn’t look like the office of a stone cold killer. It looked like the office of the psychiatrist she had to see after anything remotely serious happened when she was undercover. There were filing cabinets lined behind the desk, folders stacked on the desk itself. Rowan Whitethorn had just led her straight into the lion’s den. All of the information she needed to report to her boss was potentially in this room, right under her nose.  
  
Aelin moved through the room, running her finger along the mahogany paneling of the wall, over the cool metal of the filing cabinet closest to her. She looked over at Rowan, who watched her like a hawk, watched everywhere that her fingers touched, tensed when her hand got to close to the handle. Still he watched, perched on the edge of his desk.   
  
“Fucking you doesn’t mean anything to me,” he finally said, pushing off the desk and walking toward her. She turned to face him, her fingers tracing over the lace patterns on her stomach. “You are just a body to me.”  
  
“And you think you’re anything but a body to me?” She quipped, tilting her head to the side. Rowan’s fingers brushed the sides of her neck, thumb tracing over the hollow of her throat as he pressed down. It was getting harder to breathe as he began to squeeze, but she parted her lips, mouth falling open as she inhaled and her eyes fluttered shut.  
  
“I can’t decide if you’re brave or stupid,” he said quietly, rubbing his lip with his free hand.

His pupils were blown with desire as his eyes raked down her body, down the deep V of the bodysuit she wore like he could see straight through the lace. Her back was pressed into the filing cabinet, the handles of the drawers pressing into her spine, causing her to let out a small noise _low _in her throat. Still holding her by the neck, he pulled her from against the cabinets and spun her around with his other hand, still squeezing her neck hard enough that her breathing was heavy. He was quick in the way he unzipped the back of her bodysuit, but slow when he ran his fingers down the center of her back, over the scarring she had from previous missions, over the notches of her spine.

Aelin tugged her arms out of her sleeves, letting them dangle at her sides as she stretched her arms out along the length of the file cabinets. Rowan tugged her back against his body by her neck, squeezing tightly as his other hand ran along her abdomen. She let her hand run down the arm that was on her stomach, feeling the muscle of his forearms. His touch was rough as he gripped her breasts, tugging and squeezing with such intensity that she knew she would have fingerprint sized bruises all over tomorrow, and she didn’t care. Didn’t care as she dropped her head back against his shoulder, didn’t care as he ducked his head down, teeth digging into her skin.

Once again he spun her around so she faced him and he guided her by her throat to his desk, where he nudged her so she was sitting on the dark wood surface. She looked up at him beneath thick lashes, his thumb brushing over her lips as she began to unbutton his shirt a single button at a time. When they were all finally free, she pushed the shirt off his shoulders, and she tried, she really did, to not moan at the sight of his body but she failed miserably.

The man was corded with muscle, abdomen perfectly carved from marble like the Gods of old. His arms were massive, she could have used his body to teach someone an anatomy lesson with how ripped every line of his body was. The adonis belt of his lower abdomen pointed perfectly to where she so desperately wanted her mouth. Her eyes raked over the tattoo that swirled over his chest, down his left arm. Her hands shook with desire as she splayed them flat against his body and leaned forward, pressing her red lips to his skin. As she left behind trails with her mouth, she undid his belt, unable to keep herself from moaning when he gripped her hair in his fist. As she unbuttoned his pants she looked up at him, dragging her tongue up the center of his abdomen. It was then that he let out a moan, a moan that snapped something in her. She needed him, needed this. Wanted him possibly more than she’d ever wanted anyone in her life.

He shoved his pants down to his ankles and she instantly gripped his length in her hand. Aelin never lost eye contact with him as she rubbed the tip of his cock over her lips, teasing him with sensitive and soft touches until he let out a low, primal sound that told her if she didn’t hurry, she very well may regret it. She pressed his length flat against his abdomen, licking straight up his cock until she found a spot on the underside of him that made his grip in her hair tighter, made him tug on her golden locks until she moaned. She took him in her mouth then, sucking on the sensitive head, staining him with red lipstick marks that he would be thinking about all night.

He pushed her head down with the controlling grip he had on her hair, pushing and pushing until she was gagging, until the tip of him was deep in her throat and he was thrusting into her mouth, fucking her mouth the way she wanted him to. Her hands were digging into his skin, into the hard muscle of his sides and lower back, leaving crescent moons that would later become the smallest of bruises.

When he finally let go of her head, he pulled her off the desk and shoved her bodysuit down, which she quickly freed her legs of and turned so she was bent over his desk, ass on perfect display for him. Rowan ran his hand down her back, fingers roving over scars and bone as he thrust into her quickly. The sound that came out of her throat was guttural, was primal, was full of need and want. One of his hands gripped her hair, wrapping it around his wrist then digging into the root, tugging and tugging until her back was arched against him. It was only then that he released her hair and wrapped that hand around her throat, pinning her to his body as his other hand went straight to her clit as he fucked her hard and without restraint. Aelin couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think of anything but Rowan as he completely consumed her, fucking her and squeezing her neck until her moans were breathless, airy sounds. Rowan’s fingers made quick work between her legs as he fucked her from behind, his own breathy moans filling her ears.

Just before she came he pushed her around again, shoved her up onto the desk and bent over her body, forcing her neck down against the desk as he kissed her roughly. It was the first time he kissed her, and it was sinful the way they moaned into each others mouths, sinful the way the kiss was all teeth and tongue. She let her own hands tangle in his hair and tug as she got close, as she screamed out with her hands ripping scratches down his back. Aelin had tears, tears from how good she felt as she went over the edge, Rowan falling over soon after as he filled her, his thrusts getting sporadic and lazy as they both came down from their high.

To her slight surprise, he didn’t pull out immediately, but released the hold he had on her, resting his hands on the desk on either side of her neck. She kept her eyes closed but ran her hand up his chest, one of her hands resting against the side of his neck as he rested his forehead against hers, breath mingling. It was a surprisingly intimate gesture, even more intimate the way he kissed her, pushing in and pulling out of her slowly with one of his hands dragging down her torso. His tongue swirled around hers slowly and he finally pulled out of her, but still thrust against her, his cock sliding between her folds to nudge against her clit. Aelin moaned again then, fingers digging into his neck as she felt like she may come again, caught in the afterglow of just having come around him.

“Please,” she breathed, the only word that had been spoken for half an hour that wasn’t a curse or a name. “Please make me come.”

So he did, kissing a sloppy line down her neck, mouth sucking roughly on her throat that would leave a mark that she would later have to cover as his fingers found the knot between her legs and began rubbing small circles. Her moaning got louder, her breathing heavier as she came on his fingers again. Aelin’s thighs quivered as she finally pushed him away, unable to be touched by him anymore as she slid off his desk, immediately having to grasp his body for support. His nose nudged the side of her face and he pressed a kiss along her jaw, her cheek, then her mouth, his own stained red from her lips.

She was still for a moment, as Rowan disappeared through a door, completely naked, only to return with a damp towel which he handed her and she used to clean herself up. She avoided his eyes as she redressed, zipping herself back up as she prepared to go back out onto the floor. Fuckshitdammitfuck. She had just broken at least ten different conduct rules, and even worse - she planned on doing it again.

And as for Rowan Whitethorn? He was totally, completely, well and truly fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this Rowaelin AU. If you like what I do, please support me by buying me a ko-fi at the link below. times are hard and this makes it easier to keep up with life.  
xo  
https://ko-fi.com/O4O3SCGW


	4. doing my job.

If they were alone, they were naked. Rowan had successfully fucked her against every surface in his office, in every bathroom in the club, private or public. Sometimes they made quick work of it, sometimes it was just her leg draped over her his shoulder with his tongue coaxing moans and pleasure out of her. Sometimes it was just his hands, tangled roughly in her hair while he fucked her mouth until he came down her throat. She had somehow worked her way to becoming his favorite toy to play with, his favorite girl in the club. She was his, and everyone knew it. And as an unspoken rule, he was hers - made obvious by the red marks that stained his neck and chest, the white collar of his shirt. The red that was smudged across his lips that was the exact shade of red she painted on at the beginning of every evening. It was always her, sitting on his lap, just as it had been for the last few months. But it was slowly starting to get more difficult to explain all of the reasons her communication devices went down every night, so she’d made it a habit of getting to work early, before she was supposed to be there, so that when he bent her over his desk she didn’t have to make any excuses.

Today, it was different. It had been two months of fucking, a total of four months since she had first dropped onto his lap and offered him a glass of whiskey, and today when she walked in there was another girl with dark hair sitting on his lap. She was stiff, unmoving despite the languorous strokes that his thumb made along her thigh. The woman was stiffer still when he leaned forward to say something to her, stiff when she walked to the counter to get him another whiskey. Aelin slipped into the back to change, tugging on high waisted red bottoms encrusted with crystals and a matching top, her long legs bare and smooth. The heels she wore were black patent Louboutin red bottoms, that only made her legs look longer.

Aelin stepped back out onto the floor, knowing full well that it shouldn’t bother her. She shouldn’t at all be bothered that Lyria was the one perched on his lap, that she was the one getting his affection. Rowan Whitethorn was her target, not her boyfriend. She was supposed to be gaining intel, gaining enough information to make an arrest and take down his inner circle, the Cadre they’d been called.

But it did bother her - bothered her enough that she worked her way through the crowd to the bar to pick up a drink, them made her way to where Fenrys sat opposite of Rowan in an identical chair. He’d been watching the girls on stage until Aelin situated herself on the arm of his chair, her legs extended over his.

“Scotch, yeah?” She said into his ear, red lips brushing his golden skin. He grinned, but it faltered when Rowan’s eyes met his. Aelin rolled hers, knowing full well the dark look that would be in his eyes if she turned around, and took a sip of Fen’s drink before handing it over.

“You need to go,” he said softly, nodding his head as though silently telling her to sit anywhere but there.

“I’m doing my job, Fen,” she tilted her head, sliding down onto his lap and ruffling his hair at the root with her long fingers. She was leaning down to say something in his ear when an arm closed around her bicep and her lips pursed. Aelin knew it was Rowan without having to look. Fenrys’s eyes were downcast as she was tugged off his lap and led to the dressing room where Aelin jerked her arm from his grip.

“If you’re going to kill me for sitting in someone else’s lap, do it, otherwise let me get back to my job,” she said, turquoise and gold eyes flashing something fierce.

“I told you that first day what you were. That you were a body that I would use for pleasure. Nothing else,” his tone was flat and Aelin narrowed her eyes at him, her hands coming to rest on her hips, red lips pursed. She’d ignored it, albeit she had chosen the single person in the room that would bother him the most, but for the most part she had continued as though it was business as usual, as though she were always seated on Fenrys Moonbeam’s lap, always tending to the golden twin. Rowan was the one that had essentially thrown a fit.

“You’re the one that quite literally yanked me off of someone else. I kept doing my job. So if you’ll excuse me,” she went to step around him but he grabbed her arm again, shaking his head.

“No.”

“No?”

“No,” he said again, taking a step toward her. Aelin didn’t falter, whether it be out of stupidity or bravery, she still didn’t know. Most girls would be retreating, most men would be retreating, yet here she stood, hip cocked to the side and eyes narrowed as he took yet another step toward her.

“Are you going to hurt me, Rowan?” He kept his eyes on her, staying silent as she shook her head and walked around him, her shoulder nudging into his arm as she did. He turned, running his fingers over his mouth.

“If you leave this fucking room before I dismiss you-” She didn’t hear the rest of his threat because she did; stepping over the threshold without so much as a second glance over her shoulder.


	5. fuck you, westfall.

“You’re kidding me, right?” It had been two days since they had had something of an argument, two days since she had even bothered to so much as look at the man. She had spent her time tending to other men and avoiding his gaze altogether. Now, however, everyone else had gone home and he was sitting on her vanity bench, a large box with a red bow in hand. She was tugging on her sweats when he dropped into the seat, handsome face manipulated into a frown. At her words, he held the box out toward her, lips pressed into a single line. Aelin locked eyes with him in the mirror, pulling on her sweatshirt before she turned and took it from him, setting it down on her desk. She hated how close she was standing to him, hated that his knee brushed against her leg when he shifted where he sat.

“Just…open it,” his voice was even hard and tense, enough so that she looked at him briefly before untying the bow and lifting the top off. Beneath black tissue paper was a gold silk dress, backless with thin crystal straps. The v was deep, the dress itself completely stunning. Aelin quirked a brow and turned to face him, carefully putting the dress back into the box. “I need someone to take to a party, and I would like for that person to be you.”

“Of course you’re only doing it because you want something out of it. Do you even know how to apologize like a_ normal _human being?” Rowan was quiet, his jaw feathering where he clenched it. “Fine, whatever.” Aelin waved a hand dismissively, put the lid back on the box and tied the ribbon into a sloppy bow.

“Great. I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at eight,” and then he was moving to leave the room, only pausing in the door when she spoke.

“What were you going to do if I said no?” His lips twitched at the corners as he glanced at her over his shoulder.

“Apologize.”

~*~

Aelin couldn’t have picked a better dress if she tried. It clung to every curve of her body like a glove, complimented her skin and hair perfectly. She’d almost say that she had never looked better, and perhaps she hadn’t aside from all the lingerie she’d been wearing as of late. The knocking began as soon as she’d stepped into her shoes, so she half jogged over to the door, keeping the hem of her dress in her hand. She swung the door open, half expecting to see Fenrys, but true to his word, Rowan Whitethorn stood on her doorstep. Well, not really her doorstep. It was her fake decoy apartment, but he was there.

“Celaena,” his voice was low, eyes glazed as he took her in, the large emerald that hung at her throat, the earrings, the way her hair was twisted up off her neck. “Good,” he said, not saying anything else has he offered her his hand, which she ignored with a roll of her eyes and she began walking down to the car. She climbed in the back of the black SUV that waited for them, Rowan getting in the other side.

They were silent on the way to the party, Aelin gazing out the window the entire ride. She avoided conversing, didn’t even bother to greet Fenrys whose curly mop was occupying the front seat. In the back was someone that looked identical to Fen, yet someone less beautiful with dark hair. She’d never realized he had a twin, but she supposed that maybe she wasn’t meant to. A golden haired man occupied the drivers seat, who somehow looked too kind to be involved in the mob.

Fenrys helped her out of the car and she followed them all into the party, Rowan being the only person to walk beside her, his hand hovering over her back. Close, but not quite close enough to touch her until they stepped over the threshold of the door. As a burlesque dancer, she didn’t know any of the people in the party. As detective Aelin Galathynius, however, she knew the face of every single person here. Some of them were lesser people within the mob, some were known associates of Rowan’s. Others were people said to be higher ranking. These were people she had been surveilling for over a year, people she knew entirely too much information about. Some of these people, they had enough on them to arrest them. Tonight would have been the perfect night to bust all of these people, it would have been the biggest bust of her career. But they had pulled back, told her to keep doing recon, keep her comms open in case anything changed. Stay on your toes, her captain had said. Remember everything you can. So she would.

Aelin shifted away from Rowan, still a little annoyed with him and the way he’d been acting the last few days, and instead hooked her arm through Fenrys’s, snagging a glass of champagne off a tray that wandered by. Fen looked down at her, his eyes flashing over to Rowan’s before he led her away, no doubt having earned approval.

“How come you’re so fun but everyone else is always so uptight?” She asked, sipping the champagne that nearly matched her dress in color. Fenrys laughed, pulling his golden curls up onto the top of his head and securing it with a hair tie.

“You’re asking why Rowan has such a stick up his ass?” Aelin nodded in response, sitting on an elaborate settee in one of the many sitting rooms throughout the mansion. Overhead, a massive chandelier glittered, sending reflective rainbows all across the room.

“Yeah, I mean, is it some kind of rule?” Fenrys sat down next to her, throwing his arm over the back of the couch.

“Whitethorn is just…Whitethorn. I’ve known him since I was a teenager. Rough childhood, his dad was-“ his voice slowly trailed off, ending in an abrupt cough. Aelin looked behind her to find Rowan, hands in his pockets.

“Celaena, can I…just come on,” he nodded toward the backyard, and despite the frown that she let overtake her lips, she stood and took his arm, allowing him to lead her _outside_. Twinkle lights covered all the trees, a massive fountain in the center of the yard had water spewing from a cherub’s mouth. Why criminals always had such taste for luxury was always a mystery to Aelin, but she supposed they did it for the same reasons anyone did: because they could.

“You’re such a charmer,” she said to him sarcastically, looking around for anything she could report back to the captain when she got into the station tomorrow. “Really, It’s shocking that-“ but she was cut off by his mouth moving on hers, his hand cupping her jaw as he kissed her. Aelin started to pull away but he slid his hand to the back of her head, holding her there as his tongue slipped into her mouth, swirling in lazy circles as her own hands wrapped around his neck, tangled in his hair.

After that, everything happened very quickly. Before she realized what was happening, shouting filled her ears as police swarmed the scene, two men shoving Rowan to the ground despite his bewildered expression, despite the way his eyes met hers and filled with rage when someone, no not someone, Chaol yanked her down the path by the forearm, and then she couldn’t see Rowan anymore.

~*~

Rowan was furious. Seething. Absolutely livid and seeing red. The way the cop had grabbed onto Celaena made fire ignite in his veins, because there was no reason for anyone to be handling her that way. In all of this, in his life, she was the only thing that didn’t deserve to be manhandled and thrown around like a puppet on a string. It wasn’t until he was being led to the police car that he even saw her again, the same tall, brown haired cop arguing with her by a police car. Why he was putting up with it now didn’t make any sense when he surely wasn’t having any of her protests when he jerked Celaena from his arms moments ago. It didn’t make any sense at all until the brown haired, blue eyed police officer was ducking his head into the back of a police car. Rowan’s eyes didn’t leave Celaena, and he opened his mouth to yell for her just as she jerked her hands away from the officer and shoved him, yelling something else at him before she shoved him again and turned to walk away, opening the driver side of the police car closest to her. It was then that it all clicked, as her eyes met his across the drive, as the door was slammed in Rowan’s face. As an emotion he didn’t quite recognize flashed on Celaena’s features that he realized that her name wasn’t even Celaena at all.

~*~

“What the hell was that? If you’re going to make the biggest bust of my career that I’ve been working at for MONTHS I should be informed. I should know when my life is at stake!” Aelin shouted as she pushed through the captain’s office door, the door itself slamming back against the wall. Everyone in the station turned to watch, nobody pretending not to. Chaol entered the room right after her, just as mad as she was.

“Did you need to be warned for your safety or so we wouldn’t walk in on you fucking the target?” Chaol quipped from beside her, only for Aelin to whip around, pointing a finger in his face. In these shoes, they were just about eye level.

“I wasn’t fucking him, fuck you, Westfall.”

“How many times, Aelin? How many times did you break conduct for a criminal?” He sneered, and Aelin crossed her arms over her chest, tears pricking at her eyes and her face bright red. It felt like all the blood in her body was pulsing in her face, she was hot all over, and she could barely keep the tears at bay. “He was going to find out anyway.”

“He didn’t have to. Not because – my safety is at risk. You all realize that, right? Did anybody care that I was going to walk out of there with a damn bounty on my head? Let me talk to him. Let me talk to him, he trusts me. I can get to him, I can-“

“Aelin-“ and then she threw her hands up in anger, knowing that it didn’t matter anymore. Nothing she said mattered anymore.

“Badge and gun, I know,” she said, digging in the purse she’d grabbed from her cruiser and throwing them both on the ground at Chaol’s feet. “I wish that would have fucking misfired.” And then she was gone, storming out of the station and leaving a tense, sullen silence in her wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this Rowaelin AU. If you like what I do, please support me by buying me a ko-fi at the link below. times are hard and this makes it easier to keep up with life.  
xo  
https://ko-fi.com/O4O3SCGW


	6. princess.

Suspension while they investigated her was proving to be just as boring as she had anticipated. She didn’t do much besides watch shitty lifetime movies and eat ice cream. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, it wasn’t even the suspension that hurt. It was the look on Rowan’s face when he’d been shoved into a car and had the realization that she had been his enemy the whole time.

She should have been more careful, she knew better, but Chaol had made her so mad with his snarky remarks that something in her had snapped.

“How many times have you fucked him, Aelin? I should have known that’s why you were taking so long to get any useful information.”

“It was taking so long, asshole, because he’s a fucking mob boss that doesn’t open up and spill his secrets to every pretty girl that sits on his lap you rutting moron!”

“The bartender told us everything. You know he was undercover too? I knew you couldn’t be trusted, he told us every time you ‘lost connection’ and took out your mic. Maybe next time you’re on an undercover mission, don’t start fucking the target.” Aelin jerked her arms away from him then, fuming and angry.

“I was told to do whatever was necessary-“

“Don’t use the mission as an excuse to be a slut, Aelin. He used you and turned you into another one of his whores-“ She shoved him then, hard enough that he staggered back.

“Fuck you, Chaol. Fuck you,” she shoved him again and moved to walk to one of the police cruisers, jerking the door open when she’d made eye contact with Rowan, his face furious and something she’d never seen on him before. It looked an awful lot like heartbreak. Aelin’s own face had crumpled, and when she got into the car she sobbed into her hands, screamed and hit the steering wheel over and over.

And now, a week into suspension, she still felt the hurt, the pain. It got even worse when an a news alert took over her new weekly episode of Grey’s Anatomy, a red BREAKING NEWS banner streaming across the top and bottom of the screen.

We’ve just received reports from the chief of police that Rowan Whitethorn - renowned and infamous mob boss has escaped prison -

There was a flash of pain to the back of her head, and then everything went black.

~*~

When she came to, she had a nightmare of a headache and her wrists were tied so tightly behind her back that her bones rubbing together was painful. There was a blindfold across her eyes, and she could tell they were moving and that she was in a car. She struggled to sit up, and it took her longer than she cared to admit, but she was finally in a sitting position, leaning against the door, her temple against the window.

“Fen,” she breathed, groaning as she struggled to straighten herself.

“How did you know it was me?”

“You and Lorcan. He wouldn’t send anyone else for me. Was the hit to the head necessary? I would have let you take me.”

“That was me. I still think you’re a bitch queen and it turns out I was right about you, Aelin Galathynius,” a deeper voice to her left said. Lorcan. He’d been glaring at her for months, wasn’t quiet about his annoyance with her.

“Is he going to kill me?”

“I fucking hope so.” Lorcan again. Aelin clenched her jaw and laid her head back against the seat, her headache eventually pulling her back into a slumber.

When they arrived at their destination what felt like hours later, Fenrys helped her out of the car and led her up a set of stairs. Her headache had her disoriented, she was quite sure she had a headache and she would have been surprised if that spot on her head wasn’t bloody. Finally, after a right turn, a journey down some steps through a door, and a left turn, Fenrys had her sit down on a chair. When he untied her hands, she immediately went to rub where the restraints had been so tight, the skin feeling raw despite it only having been a few hours. His fingers took off her blindfold as well, dropping the piece of fabric on a table. Fen gave her a tight smile as he disappeared back out the door and Aelin stood, still rubbing her wrists and approached the fire.

She knelt before it, soaking in the warmth. It was spring, it wasn’t particularly cold_ outside _so the fire had to be for more aesthetic reasons than anything - a crackling fire in a study. It reminded her of her father’s office. He’d always had a fire going, the crackling of wood being something of a comfort as she lay on his couch and read fairy tales aloud while he worked.

Behind her the door creaked open, and she stood and turned to find Rowan standing in the doorway. It was then that she noticed the knives and guns laid out on the desk, the knife and gun in either of his hands. She swallowed, but kept her body loose as he approached her. Aelin had known this would happen, that he would come for her and likely kill her.

He stopped when they were nearly chest to chest, his fingers deft as they rotated the blade over, under, and between them. She almost wasn’t breathing as she gazed up at him, as he brought the blade up to drag along her throat, the point of the blade tickling her more than anything, causing a frenzy of goosebumps to erupt over her skin. The blade was used to brush her hair over her shoulder, then he was dragging it along her collarbones to the other side. She heard the shift of the gun in his hand, could imagine his finger caressing the trigger like he had once caressed her skin. Rowan pushed her hair over her other shoulder, the blade cool as he flattened it against her skin.

“Are you going to kill me?” She asked, tilting her head back slightly to look up at him, exposing her neck. Rowan took advantage of it, pressing the point against the hollow of her throat. “It’s okay. I knew my life was forfeit from the moment I met you.” His eyes flashed something fierce and narrowed, and he turned, dropping the knife and the gun onto the desk behind him.

“Fenrys is in the hall. He’ll take you to your room, princess,” his eyes met hers again as he licked his lips slowly. “Aelin.” Her name was unfamiliar on his lips, but it felt more like home than she’d ever heard it. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it and walked out the door, following Fenrys through the maze that was this mansion safe house until they reached her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this Rowaelin AU. If you like what I do, please support me by buying me a ko-fi at the link below. times are hard and this makes it easier to keep up with life.  
xo  
https://ko-fi.com/O4O3SCGW


	7. anyone else?

She stayed in her room, despite the fact that she could probably wander if she wanted, until someone knocked on the door. The voice that grunted dinner was ready was _low _and rough that she had never heard before. Someone knew that was part of Rowan’s detail, she was sure. So she slipped out of bed and made her way through the house. She was still wearing short black shorts and an oversized t-shirt that she had stolen from her cousin ages ago. It fell mid-thigh and she appeared to not have anything under it because it hid the shorts. She had knee high baseball socks on, too, her hair in a messy bun piled atop her head. It would have been nice if they’d let her grab clothes before they brought her here, but she supposed you couldn’t negotiate the terms of your own kidnapping with your kidnappers when their only order was to take you.

The table was full when she found the dining room and she hovered in the doorway, staring at the table of huge, hulking men. Rowan was at the head of the table, Fenrys and Lorcan on either side of him. Connall sat next to Fen, with a large man she’d never met before sitting next to Lorcan. Aelin took the only available seat, the one on the opposite side of the table. A place was set for her, and the table itself was lined with all sorts of food. The men were already eating, Rowan was scarfing down his food like he’d never had a meal in his life. Aelin dropped into the chair and filled her plate, eating slowly, staying quiet.

“You didn’t answer me earlier. Are you going to kill me?” Rowan ran his tongue along his teeth as though making sure they were free of food. He set down the bone of the chicken leg that he’d eaten completely clean and leaned forward on his forearms, his hands clasped above his plate.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“I know I’m just a body to you, and I don’t matter, but if you’re going to kill me, I know I don’t deserve anything, but if you are, I’d like to visit my parents one more time, and see my cousin,” she took a bite of the mashed potatoes on her plate, nodding to herself. “I need to see Aedion one more time before I die. That one isn’t negotiable. And if possible if you’re not going to kill me if I could let him know I’m safe.” Rowan’s eyes were on her, slightly narrowed he turned her words over, thought it through.

“I have one request before we kill her,” the man sitting next to her said, later to be identified as Cairn, the one she didn’t know. Rowan’s eyes slowly moved from Aelin to the man, who was a large brute of a thing. Rowan looked flat out irritated that Cairn had interrupted before he’d been able to answer. His head was cocked to the side like a predator about to eat his prey. “I want a turn with her before she dies.” The man’s eyes were on Aelin, eyes dipping to her chest. She felt heat creep up her neck, she felt instantly dirty, but she also wanted to-

There was a loud BANG!, a gunshot, and the man’s head was thrown back by the impact, blood and small bits of bone smearing the back of his chair as his body went completely slack. Blood dribbled out of his forehead, ran down the side of his nose. Aelin was shocked as she looked to Rowan, who lowered the gun, thumb caressing the handle of the pistol as he looked to his other men.

“Anyone else?” Nobody said a word, Aelin’s hands were folded in her lap as she stared at Rowan. Had he truly just shot someone in the head because they implied they wanted to fuck her? Yet he was hesitating on if he wanted to kill her at all. “Who wants dessert?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this Rowaelin AU. If you like what I do, please support me by buying me a ko-fi at the link below. times are hard and this makes it easier to keep up with life.  
xo  
https://ko-fi.com/O4O3SCGW


	8. you're not just a body.

After dinner, Aelin awkwardly excused herself and headed back to the room she’d been in before, unsure of what exactly one did when there was a dead body to be disposed of, so she left the table moments later and returned to her room. She was examining the shelves that were lined with books when there was a short knock, then the door creaked open a few inches.

“Can I come in?” Rowan. Aelin moved over to the bed and sat down on the edge, nodding because she could see one of his green eyes peering through the crack. The door opened further and he walked in, shutting the door behind him. He leaned against it for a moment, drumming his fingers on his thighs as he looked at her. This was the most casual she had ever seen him, usually he was wearing fitted suits. But now, he was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a white t-shirt, no shoes on his sock clad feet.

“Hi,” she said, rolling her hands under the hem of her shirt. Rowan stepped toward her then, coming to a stop a few feet away from her. Aelin looked at him with arched brows, letting out a slow exhale, ever at ease despite him having shot a man that sat less than two feet from her person, and at dinner no less. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“I’m really sorry, Rowan,” she said again, eyes shifting down to her feet.

“You’re not scared of me,” he finally said, slowly as though turning over the taste of the words in his mouth. Aelin shook her head shifting her weight as she pushed herself further back onto the bed, feet dangling over the edge and shifted her gaze to his eyes.

“Should I be?”

“You keep asking if I’m going to kill you, but you’re not scared of me.” At that, Aelin shrugged. No, she wasn’t scared of him. Why? She didn’t know. But she’d never been scared of him, not from the moment she’d slipped down onto his lap for the first time. “Why?”

“I don’t think you’re going to hurt me. I’m asking but,” she shrugged, “If you were going to hurt me you would have done it by now. You would have done it the first time I sat in your lap, you would have had me killed last week. You’ve had ample opportunity but you haven’t taken advantage. Even just now at dinner? If you were going to kill me you could have done it then but you shot him instead. For making a crude remark no less. I betrayed you. I expect you to kill me but I don’t think you will.”

“Why?” Another step closer to her, another shrug of her shoulders.

“I’m a good lay? I don’t know,” she snorted then, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Rowan stepped between her legs and she tilted her head back to look at him. He paused, then carefully brushed his fingers up her neck to cup her face before he bent down to kiss her. It was nothing like their other kisses. It was soft, and slow, but hard and deep. It was claiming, it made her dizzy.

“What you said at dinner, that you’re just a body,” he said against her mouth, Aelin’s hands pushing his shirt up, up, up and over his head. She’d started to work at hers when he shook his head, “you’re not just a body to me.” Aelin, instead of saying anything, just pulled her shirt over her head, began tugging her long socks from her feet.

“You’re not just a body to me,” he repeated, grabbing her hands in his. She wouldn’t look at him, couldn’t look at him, her eyes that were pricked with heat focused on the ground. “Aelin,” he said, holding both of her hands in one hand, gripping her chin with the other.

“I can hear you, Rowan.”

“You can hear me but you aren’t listening and I need you to listen. You are not just a body to me,” she finally looked at him then, nodding as he captured her mouth and released her hands. Aelin’s fingers pulled him down by his neck, mouths moving as Rowan repeated the words like a litany. “You are so much more than a body to me.”

They moved further back on the bed, tongues tangling and hands roaming. Aelin didn’t care about foreplay, she didn’t care about anything other than feeling what he meant while he said it. She only cared about being as close to him as she could be, so she nudged his sweats down until he kicked them off, let him tug her shorts off until he was hovered over her naked body. The first thrust in felt so good she could have died, but then he started moving _inside _her with long, slow thrusts as his mouth trailed over her jaw, her neck, her collarbones. He was moaning just as much as she was, the air thick with tension. Aelin turned his face back to hers with her fingers, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Her legs wrapped around his waist as they both fought to get as close as possible to the other.

“Aelin,” he groaned, forehead against hers, both of their bodies sticky with sweat.

“I love you,” she whispered into his mouth, catching his mouth with hers again with all the desire in the world. Rowan didn’t falter, he thrust into her harder, moaning her name. “I love you so much.”

“I love you,” he finally replied, the admission being enough to make her heart thunder, to make her breath disappear from her lungs. “I love you,” he said again, over and over, punctuating each admission with a thrust until they were both falling over the edge together.

After, while she caught her breath, he ran his fingertips up and down her bare legs, unable to keep his hands off of her. She lay with her head on his arm, the two kissing lazily as they recouped.

“Hey, Ro?” He turned his head to look at her, bringing his hand up to brush her hair out of her face. “I love you, and that was so…gods, it was beautiful. But I’d really like for you to fuck me until I can’t walk.” The grin he gave her was nothing short of feral as he rolled on top of her, mouth claiming hers just like his soul had long ago.

“Gods above, I love you,” he damn near growled, and grinning, Aelin said, “I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this Rowaelin AU. If you like what I do, please support me by buying me a ko-fi at the link below. times are hard and this makes it easier to keep up with life.  
xo  
https://ko-fi.com/O4O3SCGW


	9. until his death

They were laying in bed, his bed, his fingers running up and down her sides. Aelin’s eyes were closed, and she was breathing deeply. Relaxed, but not asleep. Not lost in a dream world but purely content with the way the last few days had gone. When she opened her eyes, she smiled at Rowan, leaning forward to press a kiss to his lips.**  
**

“Aelin,” his thumb grazed her bottom lip as he pressed another soft kiss there. “I need to tell you something, love.”

“That’s…never good.” Her brow was furrowed and she sat up, reaching for his shirt that lay discarded at the end of the bed. Rowan sat up, too, fluffing and then leaning against several pillows, his head leaning back against the onyx headboard. “I mean, what are we, like is this a sit down at a desk and have a discussion kind of thing or like, are you breaking up with me? Are we even dating? We don’t - that’s not relevant. My bad. Okay. Tell me.”

Grinning at the way she stumbled over her words and babbled through her anxiety, he leaned forward and kissed her, fingers briefly tangling in the back of her long golden hair. Once again, his thumb was brushing along her cheek, doing anything he could to soothe. Another soft kiss and he leaned back again, taking her hand and lacing their fingers in his lap. Her eyes narrowed.

“You’re being too nice I don’t know if I like it,” she told him, a frown on her face and her own accent slipping further. Her words became more proper and staccato as she tried to distance herself from whatever hurt was about to come from his lips that were swollen from the hours they’d spent against every part of her body.

“Your father…Aelin, love, your father was my mentor,” he said, that lilting roll of his accent heavy and smooth. Rowan’s fingers were tracing the shape of her own, up and over her knuckles, over the curve of her fingernail. Aelin snorted.

“You weren’t ever in the force, I know a lot about you, Rowan Whitethorn, and you were never a police-”

“Here, Aelin. Not as a police officer but here,” his words were soft, but Aelin felt like she’d been frozen over as she took her hand from his.

“You’re implying that my father, my father that worked his ass off as a police officer, you’re sitting here and telling me that my idol was a dirty cop for a fucking mob? That he was a mob boss and nobody knew it?” She stumbled out of the bed then, reaching for her own clothes, tearing Rowan’s from her body. “Fuck you, Rowan.”

“Baby, listen to me,” he reached over the edge of the bed and caught her hand that she promptly jerked away. “I knew who you were from the moment you dropped into my lap that day. Your eyes, your nose. I’d seen pictures of you, your dad kept that one in his wallet, of the two of you, you were a teenager after a, Gods above what was it? A basketball game?” Aelin was still, numb.

“How do you know that.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement, a demand. Her voice was flat, no inflection to her words. Nothing at all, except the cold tone that she felt like ice through her entire body.

“Because he showed me on more than one occasion. Showed me photos of you on his phone, he bragged about you constantly. I was at their funeral. Gods, Aelin I’ve been on your protective detail before.”

“My what?” She whipped her head toward him, eyes blazing pure flame. “My protective detail?” Rowan ran his hand over his face roughly, rubbed his eyes, his mouth. He stood up then, pulling on his pants as he did and walked around the bed to stand before her. Aelin was furious with him, but allowed him to reach out, to brush her hair from her face. Allowed him to kiss her forehead, her hair.

“Fen and I mostly. Because your father, until his death, was the leader of the Cadre.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this Rowaelin AU. If you like what I do, please support me by buying me a ko-fi at the link below. times are hard and this makes it easier to keep up with life.  
xo  
https://ko-fi.com/O4O3SCGW


	10. you're not a prisoner.

She wasn’t particularly sure how long she’d been sitting_ outside _on a tree trunk some distance from the cabin. Aelin had followed the path until it became too overgrown before she dropped onto the stump that was at the edge of a river bank. Most likely the Avery river, and they were most likely on the border of Adarlan somewhere. It was quiet and peaceful, something she found herself able to get used to as she just stared at the trickling water. The sound of it bubbling over the rocks was soothing, the same way the birds calling one another with whistled songs had her rolling her shoulders to let out the tension.

So when footsteps started to approach from behind, she heard them long before she saw Fenrys, the crunching of leaves and snapping of twigs announcing his presence from her right. She let out a sigh and looked over him, one she’d come to know as her friend despite that she was supposed to be arresting him at some point. He was too likable. It was almost unsettling.

In his hand he carried a manila envelope that was bulging from the contents. She arched a brow but shifted slightly so there was room for him to sit on the large stump too, so he took the seat next to her and let out a long exhale.

“It’s not his fault,” he said, “but you know that.” She was chewing on her bottom lip now, almost hard enough to draw blood. “His one call after his arrest was to me, and all he said was ‘protect her.’ He was furious, Aelin. I know you think he’s mad at you but he isn’t. He knew who you were. We all did. We were surprised as fuck that managed to get out on our case and didn’t know what would happen when you did but he wasn’t…he wasn’t ever mad at you. I know him. There was never a second where he considered killing you, I don’t care what front he put up. It was all bullshit. He will tell you everything but I figured you needed to see all of this first,” he said, handing her the envelope.

She didn’t say anything, just stared at the orange-y tone of it for several moments before she opened the lip and began by pulling out the bulkiest of the items - several passports. They were for her father, all of them containing various aliases. She frowned and handed them to Fen, then pulled out a stack of papers. It was all sorts of documents, all of them containing a familiar scrawl that she had seen a thousand times growing up. His signature on permission slips, items scribbled on a grocery list, a letter _inside _her birthday cards. Even worse, they were all incriminating documents that in various ways confirmed with what Rowan has told her about her father mere hours ago. So many correspondences with members of other mob groups, with Maeve Dumort, a woman they were in the process of linking to hundreds of individual crimes, her rapsheet long and ongoing.

“Why bother telling me at all?” She questioned, shifting her gaze to Fen’s at last as she stuffed the papers and passports back _inside _the envelope.

“He wants to be honest with you, I think. He’s never been able to be fully honest with anyone, he’s never even looked at girls for anything other than sex. But we aren’t stupid. He looks at you different and something changed enough that instead of calling a lawyer he called me to make sure you were safe while he couldn’t protect you. Even more than that, the second he burst into our safe house after escaping he immediately told us to come get you.”

“That doesn’t mean anything other than he wants to keep me prisoner and kill me later,” she said, words a little too sharp with pain.

“If That were true, you would be in a grave so deep nobody would ever have hope of finding you.” Fenrys was quiet for a few moments then, before he pulled a phone from his pocket, which he handed to her. “It’s untraceable, you can call whoever you want. If you want to see your cousin we can arrange that too. The tv in your bedroom is set up with anything you could want. We have laptops if you want to use them.” He stood then, shoving his hands into his pockets before he nodded once and started back down the trail. He started to whistle on the way back, and it struck Aelin in the pit of her stomach, because it was an old song that her father had used to whistle while she read poetry aloud to him, while he pushed her on swings in a playground. A long since forgotten tune that she had never heard anywhere except whistled from his lips.

~*~

“I saw your face when I opened that car door that night,” she said, and Rowan started from where he sat, hunched over his desk. “You were…so angry. The veins in your neck and forehead were popping and you were beet red.”

“Because he…he was touching you and I could tell it was hurting you and it made me the most mad I think I’ve ever been. And then I was mad that your job was about to be in total jeopardy and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I couldn’t help,” his tone was quiet, his voice _low _and deep. With a swivel of his chair he turned to face her and she nodded, taking a painstakingly slow steps to stand before him.

“I talked to Fen,” she said, stopping close enough that he could reach out and touch her if she allowed it. Aelin held up the cell phone in her hand, a brow slightly quirked.

“You’re not a prisoner here, Aelin, I - I know they took you by unorthodox measures but I just needed to see you, I needed to know you were okay. I will take you home myself if you do not wish to be here,” his fingers reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear, and she allowed it. “But I would like for you to stay.” Aelin nodded, wetting her lips with a dart of her tongue.

“I’ll think about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this Rowaelin AU. If you like what I do, please support me by buying me a ko-fi at the link below. times are hard and this makes it easier to keep up with life.  
xo  
https://ko-fi.com/O4O3SCGW


	11. anything you want.

She was sitting upstairs in her room by herself, laptop open as she watched the Facetime call ring out. Her fingers tapped anxiously on the metal of the computer until the signal that the call had been answered, the camera opening to a shot of Aedion and Lysandra huddled together on their couch. Lysandra had been crying, and despite that Aelin tried to ignore it, it looked like Aedion had as well.

“Where the fuck are you? Are you okay? Are you safe?” It had been three days since Aelin had been taken from her apartment, she wasn’t surprised that they had been worried. 

“I’m okay. I don’t know where I am but I’m probably the safest I’ve ever been in my life,” she said, doing her best not to cry along with them. It was quiet for a moment then she said, "I can send someone for you. To bring you to me if you want. I can’t leave here but-“

“We’ll call Chaol, we-”

“Gods, do not call Chaol. I might let them kill Chaol, if we’re being honest.”

“It’s Whitethorn that has you?” Aedion asked, rubbing at his face. Aelin nodded, grabbing her cup of coffee and taking a long drink. 

“I’m going to have Fen call you and arrange for you to come out here. Call Chaol and tell him I’m not missing, I just went out of town and you forgot and I lost my phone or something. I don’t know. I’d stay and talk longer but I think breakfast is almost done and I’m starving, and I need to talk to Rowan, and - ”

“Are they hurting you? Is _he _hurting you?” Aedion asked, the lines of his face hard and filled with worry. Aelin, however, snorted, shaking her head. 

“There’s a lot for you to learn, cousin, but no. Rowan will never hurt me. I love you both. I’ll see you soon, okay?” Neither of them looked happy that she was ending the call so soon, but Aelin shut her laptop anyway and pushed it toward the center of her bed. There was so much she needed to tell Aedion, even more she wanted to tell Lysandra, but it would have to wait until they were physically here, until she could hug them and explain everything to them. Until they would both be convinced she wasn’t just a victim of stockholm syndrome. 

* * *

When she walked downstairs for breakfast, everyone was already at their respective places at the table, Rowan at the head, the opposite end of the table open for her, his queen. She stopped at his side, the clattering of forks and knives stuttering slightly as she ran her fingertip along the defined edge of his jaw. Those remarkable green eyes raised to meet hers, a drop of syrup settled into the curve of his mouth. She nodded at him then, the answer he had been waiting for for two days, and despite his best efforts to keep his hard facade, she didn’t miss the way that his lips twitched up at the corners. 

“I want you to send for my cousin and my best friend,” she said softly, and the movement of utensils on plates halted entirely. Had she really just given him an order of sorts? He quickly turned his face to press his lips against her palm, green eyes bright, thrilled even. 

“Anything you want.” She nodded then, dropping a chaste kiss to the side of his neck before she found her seat at the other end of the table and started to eat her food. Slowly his men began to eat again, Fenrys grinning at her like a fiend. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this Rowaelin AU. If you like what I do, please support me by buying me a ko-fi at the link below. times are hard and this makes it easier to keep up with life.  
xo  
https://ko-fi.com/O4O3SCGW


	12. please touch me

It was late, and Aelin was bored. She’d already taken a walk through the forest with Fenrys while Rowan was out doing Mala only knew what. She had made Fenrys and herself soup for dinner, and they had played chess until Fen got frustrated that Aelin kept winning. Now, she had showered, dried and curled her hair, and was making her way down to Rowan’s office. Her fingers were working random strands of her hair into a braid as she paused in front of the door.

“You weren’t in bed when I woke up,” she drawled, meeting his eyes as she paused by the fire that roared in the fireplace. She knelt next to the flame, warming the chill from her fingertips and watching as it tried to lick high enough to catch her palm. With a small sigh she stood and took the remaining few steps to Rowan, ignoring the papers he had sprawled out before him as she perched on the edge of his desk. The hem of her nightgown rose up and his hands fell to rest on her thighs, thumbs brushing the sensitive skin between her legs.

“I’m sorry,” he said, leaning forward to press a kiss to her lips. Aelin’s arms draped around his neck and she hummed against his mouth. “I had some things to deal with.” He pressed another soft kiss to her mouth and leaned back to look at her face, his shoulders tense.

“I’m not upset I just like it when you’re there when I wake up,” she shrugged her shoulders and leaned forward to kiss him again. “You know you can talk to me about stuff right? That you can trust me like I trust you?”

“Like you trust me?”

“With my life,” she mused, corners of her mouth pulling up as she pressed her lips to his. “Completely and with every fiber of my being.” Aelin nodded at the last word as if she were punctuating the sentence, then added in another soft kiss to his mouth.

“With your life?” His tone was laced with surprise, maybe a little confusion. Of course, she wanted to say, but didn’t, instead pulling him closer to kiss him yet again, wanting to kiss away his worries as she nodded in response to his question. Somewhere just to her right, she heard the click of a gun and soon felt the cool barrel of a silencer pressed underneath her chin. Most people would have been nervous, would have had their hearts racing in fear. Instead, her lips curled up into a grin, the racing of her heart solely from the adrenaline rush. “You sure about that?”

When she pulled away to look at him, her hands still holding his face, he shifted the gun to nudge against her lips. She opened her mouth to allow him to place it between her teeth and she closed her mouth around it. Making direct eye contact with him, she slowly started to move her mouth on the gun the same way she would move her mouth on him if she were on her knees before him. Aelin was well aware of the spark that flashed in his eyes, of the lust that slowly but surely built as his pupils blew wide with desire. His finger played with the trigger, caressing it the way his free hand caressed her thighs, until he finally pulled it and —

Nothing happened. Her pulse picked up only slightly as she laughed a little, pulling her mouth from the gun and leaning forward to capture his. Their tongues tangled, toying and playing with the other as he gripped another weapon from somewhere she couldn’t see.

“Lie back,” he murmured, pausing to kiss down her throat. Aelin did as she was told, lying down on his desk with her legs spread for him to stand between. She sighed when his mouth paused between her breasts, her fingers tangling further into his hair as she felt the cool blade of a dagger being dragged along her skin.

Goosebumps erupted over her flesh, a slight gasp escaped her mouth as he ran the point of the blade across her skin. It was so sharp that it likely left behind a slight welt, but she didn’t mind. She welcomed it, really. Anything that reminded her of the moments of intimacy she shared with the man atop her were welcome.

Rowan pulled the blade along her collarbones, not hesitating when he cut through the strap of her silk nightgown so easily. After he cut the other, he pressed the blade flat between her breasts before kissing her, hooking the dagger under the fabric, and cutting straight down so that her nightie slipped off of her body. It served as nothing more than a slight barrier between the desk and her skin now, the only thing keeping her from full nudity being the scrap of lace that hung from her hips. In two quick movements, that fell from her body too and crumpled into a mess on the floor.

Aelin bit her lip and traced her fingers down Rowan’s nose, over the shape of his lips and he kissed her fingers mouthing the words, “do you trust me?” Against the pads of her fingertips. She merely nodded and closed her eyes as he drew the tip of the metal up to her neck and rest it flat against her skin.

The gasp that she let out when he cut the smallest of lines just above her collarbone was breathy and leaning more toward a moan. It was a sound she knew he would replay over and over in his mind, in his dreams. It didn’t take him long to connect his mouth with the small droplet of blood that he had managed to conjure, even less time for him to meet her mouth again. She could taste the metallic tang over her blood on his tongue and found that for whatever reason, something primal in her body roared at the notion.

Aelin opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out, and Rowan readily lay the blade flat against her tongue. With slow movements she licked the flat side, licked the sharp edges so slowly that it tickled her tongue, and kept her eyes on Rowan all the while she did it. Judging by the look on his face, it was driving him absolutely mental.

As if to prove her right, he swore and his lips began a descent that would lead him straight to heaven. Rowan kissed down the center of her abdomen, the only detours he bothered with being those to bite and tug on her peaked breasts. The moans she let out we’re _low _and guttural, and when he went back to pressing hot, open mouthed kisses to her belly, she dropped her legs open to the sides to offer herself to him like his own personal feast.

Instead of his mouth, however, that damned knife was pressed against her clit, the very tip nudging that bundle of nerves only just. She could feel it all straight to her core — lower — knew how completely wet she was for him. Knew that he loved seeing how wet she was, how open and ready she already was for him and all he’d done was turn weapons on her body.

He kept up with his teasing, dragging the dagger between her swollen and ready lips, coating the blade with her juices that he so desperately wanted on his tongue.

“Rowan,” she finally breathed, the sound high pitched breathy. “Baby, please touch me. Please, please touch me.”

When she looked down at him and tugged in his hair, trying her best to pull his mouth right where she wanted, the look in his eyes told her he’d been planning to drag it out much more. The sound of her begging, however, seemed to change his mind, because he slammed the dagger down into the wood of his desk at the same moment his mouth wrapped around her clit and she cried out in pleasure.

Rowan was nothing if not talented with his tongue and hands, the way he took to licking her and eating her made her feel like she was the most delicious thing he’d ever had the pleasure to devour. And devour her he did, because she was watermelon on a scorching hot day and the only thing giving him relief. She was water in the desert, a peach in the spring, she was anything and everything that he wanted her to be. Whatever he needed her to be.

He coaxed moans from her like she’d never known such a pleasure. Coaxed screams from her mouth like she’d leapt over the edge and had begun to free fall through the air. As if on cue, her body tightened, heels pressing into his back as the bungee cord holding her to this earth snapped taught, the release and adrenaline rushing through her with such intensity she’d never known. Rowan’s name fell from her lips like the most reverent and ancient prayer, a god to be worshiped, to be bowed to and she made a silent promise to praise him on her knees when he let her go.

All of that and he’d only used a gun, a knife, and his mouth.

~*~

At first, she wasn’t sure what had roused her from sleep. It had been such a blissful sleep, she didn’t dream or have nightmares. Aelin had slept like a babe through the night, curled up and around Rowan’s warm and strong form. To be truthful, she wasn’t sure of the last time she slept so well. So soundly and warm.

She couldn’t remember the last time sex had exhausted her so thoroughly — Rowan hadn’t let her stop until he was satisfied with the level of pleasure she’d achieved. He had dove back into her skin time after time, had ran the sharp blade along the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. The adrenaline that rushed through her body all night had been like nothing she’d ever felt. Being high off of Rowan Whitethorn was better than any drug, any sip of alcohol, better than skydiving or jumping off a cliff. It was the only high she would ever need and, to be frank, Aelin didn’t want to come down.

So when she stirred and reached for Rowan’s warm body on the other side of the bed, she frowned immediately. When she cracked an eye open and called his name for him to not be there, she stumbled out of bed and pulled a silk dressing robe tight to her form. It was then that she noticed all the yelling.

Aelin rushed to the door and threw it open, ran down the hallway to the entryway and nearly fell over at the sight. Aedion had Rowan pinned to a wall, Lysandra behind him with Fenrys’ hands wrapped around her upper arms. She was still blindfolded. Aedion, however, had a bruising black eye and, judging from the shiner that Lorcan now sported, he’d earned it. His arms were choking Rowan, all the guns in the room were pointed at Aedion, Rowan had one hand held out to the side telling them to stand down, but how could they when their leader was under attack in his own home.

“What,” she drawled, eyes focused on Rowan, “in the ever loving hell is going on here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this Rowaelin AU. If you like what I do, please support me by buying me a ko-fi at the link below. times are hard and this makes it easier to keep up with life.  
xo  
https://ko-fi.com/O4O3SCGW


	13. sorry that i held a gun to his head.

“Aelin,” Aedion croaked out, his voice hoarse. His hands didn’t move from where they were situated around Rowan’s throat, however. Aelin’s jaw was clenched as she took in the scene around her, eyes immediately falling to Fenrys and the way he held Lysandra. It was a gentle grip, Aelin could tell she wasn’t in any pain and knew Fenrys enough to know that he wouldn’t ever hurt her. Not without orders, anyway.

“Get your hands off of him, Aedion,” Aelin said coolly. Despite how happy she was to see her cousin, she was not happy to see Rowan’s face nearly purple from how hard Aedion was gripping his throat. As soon as Aedion loosed his grip, Aelin’s eyes shifted to the men that continued to have their guns pointed at her flesh and blood. “Lower your rutting weapons.” The tone of her voice was so cool, so commanding, that every member of the Cadre stood down immediately. Fenrys even took the liberty to release Lysandra’s arms and gently untied the black satin fabric from her eyes.

Aedion stumbled toward her, his hand gripping her chin to make sure she was okay. His eyes searched hers with such fervor that she shook her head slightly, mouthing that she was okay. After a moment she sidestepped him, her fingers moving to trail over Rowan’s neck.

“Are you okay?” She asked him softly, sighing when he nodded. “I’d like some privacy with them but for you to stay.” Aelin spoke primarily to Rowan, but at hearing she wanted space the rest of the crew immediately nodded once in her direction and disappeared. It was strange, giving orders to the most powerful people in Adarlan and have them listen. To have Rowan Whitethorn willing to kneel before her and fall to her every whim.

“Your office?” Rowan murmured, nodding his head toward a door behind her. Aelin turned with raised brows, unaware she had her own office. She couldn’t even think of what she might need it for, but she followed Rowan through the large oak door with Aedion and Lysandra close behind. Aedion was so tense that he was like a wire ready to snap.

The office that Rowan led them into looked much like his own with deep emerald velvet couches and oversized chairs. A sleek black desk was centered near the fireplace with silver and gold accents scattered about the room. It reminded her of home, of Terrasen. Rowan had somehow managed to get the details right, exactly how she would have decorated it herself.

“It was meant to be a surprise, but I suppose now is as good a time as any,” he told her, brushing her hair over her shoulder and pressing a kiss to the bare skin where her robe had slipped off her shoulder.

“Is anyone going to tell me what the fuck is going on here?” Aedion demanded.

Lysandra stepped forward and touched his arm softly as Aelin turned to look at him, her head tilted to the side. Rowan moved to sit on the couch only for Aelin to curl up next to him, settling against his side. She gestured to the other chairs across from her for Aedion and Lysandra to sit, and then she started to tell them a story.

The story of how her father led the mob in secret, of how he’d had the Cadre watching Aelin closely from the time he’d taken over when she was a teenager. She told them of her relationship with Rowan, how it evolved into something much more than either of them had anticipated. Aelin explained that she was safe here, and Aedion had snorted. Of course she was safe. She had demanded that a room of men lower their weapons and they had listened to her. On and on she explained, looking to Rowan for him to fill in the details here and there that she had missed or didn’t know all the ins and outs of. Aedion and Lysandra both were quiet the entire time, listening to them prattle on until the end, until they reached the point of them sitting in her new office. Aedion’s face was unreadable as he processed her words, unreadable still when he started to speak.

“So, what? You’re in control of things now?”

“No. Gods no. Rowan is still…in charge. I don’t even know how it works really, other than –”

“Other than she is my queen and will be treated as such. She carries as much weight around here as I do. She will never be looked down upon or belittled because she’s a woman. The second one of my men attempted to objectify her, I shot him in the head. I will keep her safe before anyone else,” Rowan said, shifting to put his arm around her shoulders.

“Does Chaol know?”

“I don’t particularly give a shit about what Westfall does or doesn’t know. I’m not going back.”

“You’re choosing this life then?” Aedion asked, nostrils flaring. “A life where you’ll always be running, where it’s kill or be killed? Choosing to be the mafia’s whore?”

Quicker than Aelin would have thought possible, Rowan was on his feet with the barrel of a gun pressed to Aedion’s temple. The tension shift in the room was damn near palpable, Lysandra screaming and wrapping her arm around Aedion’s. She begged Rowan to stop, to not shoot, but he didn’t even spare her a second glance. Rowan was so tightly wound that Aelin could feel how taut every muscle and tendon was under her hand when she stood and ran her hand down his spine.

“Rowan,” she said softly, and almost immediately he dropped his arm and shoved the gun back into the holster at his side.

“If you talk to her like that again, I will not hesitate to cut your tongue off and shove it down your godsdamned throat,” he said coolly, turning only to press his lips to Aelin’s temple. “I’m going to go check on dinner,” he said to her then, fingers grazing her cheekbones. Aelin nodded tilting her head back slightly for Rowan to drop the softest of kisses to her mouth before he left the room. Once the door closed, Aelin turned to look at her cousin, to look at the man that was the other side of the same coin that she was. The same golden sunshine radiated from him that did her, the same fire flashed in his eyes that she saw in the mirror every day.

“I asked them to bring you here because I don’t want to have to go through my life without you, Aedion, but you have to deal with your temper.”

“You really think your father would have–”

“I don’t know what my father would have wanted! He was the head of this entire organisation for Gods sake! You knew him Aedion, you know he probably intended for me to take over at some point when he thought that the time was right. It didn’t make sense to me either but the proof is undeniable and you don’t get to throw any of this in my face. I didn’t ask for it but I have the entire damn Cadre on their knees if I so ask so I’m willing to bet that whatever it was my father wanted would have had a lot to do with Rowan Whitethorn and the band of misfits he leads because otherwise I don’t think they would be so willing to do anything I said otherwise.”

“She’s safe, Aedion,” Lysandra said softly. “That’s all you were worried about. And she’s probably the safest she’s ever been.” Aelin felt a surge or gratitude toward her friend, even reached out and squeezed her shoulder and offered her a small smile.

“You don’t have to stay here, you don’t have to be here. I can have them take you home. Or you can stay a few days and I’ll have a room made up for you.” Knuckles rapped on the door before it opened and Rowan stepped back in. “It’s up to you.”

“Dinner is ready, love,” Rowan said softly. Aelin merely nodded, folded her arms across her chest and followed him out, leaving Aedion and Lysandra alone to make their decision.

~*~

“I’m sorry that I held a gun to his head,” Rowan said, pulling the blankets back on his side of the bed as Aelin slipped between the sheets. He lay next to her, pressing his lips to her forehead, her nose, then her lips.

“He was being an asshole,” she admitted, kissing him again. She let her hand run up his arm and over his chest, allowed her fingers to trace the whorls that made up the tattoo that consumed the left half of his body.

“I don’t care who he is to you, nobody talks to you that way.” He was so serious with his brow furrowed and a clenched jaw that Aelin couldn’t resist leaning forward to kiss him softly. Soft kisses slowly turned more_ urgent _when he rolled on top of her, pressing his hard body against hers. She would never tire of it, she decided then. Of the heat of his body against her, of feeling the hard planes of his muscles pushing her into the mattress. The feeling that flipped through her stomach when he slipped his tongue into her mouth that left her breathless every time, even more breathless when he moved from her lips to kiss down her throat, down her stomach.

Soon, he was lifting the hem the shirt he was wearing — his shirt — and his lips met bareskin that he took to worshipping like he had all the time in the world to do it. Like he had hours and days and weeks to lay settled between her legs, kissing lazily across her lower abdomen.

It didn’t take long for him to kiss each of her thighs, kiss the lace of her panties. After looping his arms around her legs he used a single finger to tug the scrap of lace to the side and allowed himself to taste her. To lick and suck at her until her hands were pulling on his hair, until she was nearly screaming, until she was shaking and pushing him away.

And then he started again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoy this Rowaelin AU. If you like what I do, please support me by buying me a ko-fi at the link below. times are hard and this makes it easier to keep up with life.  
xo  
https://ko-fi.com/O4O3SCGW


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